Chapter 5
Molly Weasley rushes the kids to the platform, warning them that the train will be leaving any minute. Cassia, Harry, and Ron trail behind a bit, talking about how horrible Lucius is. They reach the platform and Cassia runs toward it. Well, actually she runs into it. The wall has become solid brick even though they had just watched everyone else run through moments before. The station agent looks over as they all tumble to the ground. “Oi! What do you three think you’re doing?” He shouts and Cassia quickly gets up and begins gathering her things. “Trolley must’ve hit a rock, sir” She explains and he walks away shaking his head.
The boys immediately start panicking and Cassia stands there waiting for them to use their brains. “Guys,” She says calmly but they don’t acknowledge her. “GUYS” They finally look at her. “We have a flying car,” Ron mutters about her being a genius making her smile cockily. “Well, one of us had to get mom’s brains and it clearly wasn’t Harry,” She teases her brother and he shoves her playfully. Ron takes the wheel and Cassia beats Harry to the passenger seat so he gets stuck in the back. As the car begins to rise, Cassia looks out the window. “Uh, Ron, maybe the car should be invisible while we fly through London” He quickly presses the button and the vehicle vanishes. For a while, they glide smoothly through the air. Then, in nearly an instant, everything goes wrong. The invisibility booster stops working, they nearly get run over by the train, and Harry falls out of the car.
As they approach the school, they think it truly can’t get much worse. The universe decides to prove them wrong and sends them crash-landing into the Womping Willow. It destroys the car which ejects them and their luggage from inside before driving itself away. Not wanting to wait around for anything else to happen, the trio scurries into the castle. But of course, life is not that easy and Filch brings them into Snape’s office. The professor scolds them while waving a newspaper in their face. Cassia just holds her head down until he’s finished. Finally, he stops and she speaks up. “We were only trying to get to school, sir. That should be commendable at least” This only seems to make him more furious. “You have the tongue of your father” He snaps just before Dumbledore and McGonagall come in. McGonagall explains to them that they will receive detention, not expulsion and she will write to their families. Cassia’s face goes ghostly pale. She’s already in hot water with Remus. He just might ask McGonagall to expel her at this point.
Draco paces back and forth by the Gryffindor common room. She’s always getting herself into trouble, so it worried him that Cassia wasn’t at the feast. Her figure finally appears as the staircase swings to meet the floor by the door. She smiles when she sees him and tells the two boys with her that she’ll be a minute. “You weren’t on the train and you weren’t at the feast. I thought something had happened to you” he explains and she smiles softly. “I’m fine, really. Now get to bed before you get detention too” She tells him then slinks into the common room before he can ask how on earth she managed to get detention.
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The next morning, second-years surround rows of planters waiting for their herbology professor, Professor Sprout, to enter. When she does, she’s wearing earmuffs making Cassia and Draco give each other a questioning look from across the tables. Professor Sprout asks about mandrakes and Hermione, of course, answers immediately. She gets ten points for Gryffindor from it and Cassia sticks her tongue out at Draco.
A loud screeching echoes throughout the greenhouse. Cassia presses her earmuffs tighter to her head and winces at the sound. Beside her, Neville Longbottom faints. Draco snickers and she shoots him a look but can’t help but giggle softly herself. Then as Draco is repotting his own mandrake, it bites his finger. Cassia busts up laughing at him and he glares at her while she pots hers perfectly.
Draco and Cassia walk to the Great Hall together. When they come in the doors, Harry is staring at them. “Good luck with that” Draco laughs, nodding his head toward the girl’s twin before parting ways to go to the Slytherin table. “Why are you always with him?” Harry starts and Cassia groans. “Why are you always asking about him? Got a crush or something?” She counters and he shuts up for the time being. Errol, the Weasleys’ owl brings a welcome change of subject as he crashes into the table with a howler for Ron. Cassia can’t help but laugh but then Remus’s owl comes flying in. Her eyes get wide and her heart starts to race, worried that her letter will be similar to Ron's. She opens it carefully and finds only one line written on the paper.
Don’t get caught next time.
-Remus
She sighs in relief and puts the letter back in the envelope. With Ron now terribly embarrassed and Cassia thankful for Remus being used to her antics, the group packs up their things and heads to DADA.
Gilderoy Lockhart waltzes into the classroom from his office. Most of the girls fawn over him while Cassia simply rolls her eyes and slouches in her chair. Draco sits beside her and mocks him in a hushed tone only she can hear just as they had done in Flourish and Blotts. Lockhart unveils a cage full of cornish pixies and Cassia laughs. “Is something funny Miss Potter?” He asks and she sits up straighter. “Nothing, sir, just the fact that cornish pixies are no more dangerous than a niffler” She corrects him with a scoff. In response to her comment, he releases the pixies. Everyone scatters around the classroom to avoid the creatures. Neville is picked up by his ears, Draco starts swinging at them with a book, and Lockhart fails to cast a spell to stop them. The professor then flees to his office leaving students to solve his problem. Hermione and Cassia make eye contact from opposite sides of the room and cast the same spell together. “Immobulus” They shout in sync and the pixies freeze in the air.
Later that day, the Gryffindor quidditch team is walking to the pitch for practice and they run into the Slytherin team seemingly doing the same. Draco steps out from the group as their new seeker. Cassia looks shocked since he didn’t tell her and she tries to catch his eye but she is in the back of the group and her can’t see her. Hermione makes a comment about Draco having to buy his way onto the team making him turn and step to her. Cassia quickly moves forward, trying to stop Draco knowing he’s a victim of his environment and might do something stupid. She could never have expected, though, the words that came out of his mouth. “No one asked your opinion, you filthy little Mudblood”
The hand that Cassia had reached out to pull Draco back from Hermione drops as her stomach turns at his words. Remus had told her how that word had been thrown around about her mother. It disgusts her that it even crossed Draco’s mind. She pushes past him to go comfort Hermione mumbling, “I thought you were different” as she does. His face falls when he realizes that Cassia heard what he said. “Cassia, I… I didn’t know you were there.” Her head whips up to look at him but she doesn’t say anything. She just glares as she starts to walk Hermione away from the situation. Ron lashes out and tries to cast “eat slugs” Draco. Since his wand is broken, it fires back at him and he starts coughing up slugs. Harry rushes over to help him and Cassia rounds up the group to go to Hagrid’s. As she passes Draco, she throws her shoulder into him on purpose.
They all sit on a bench at Hagrid’s and he brings a bucket over for Ron to catch the slugs. Cassia sits on the end of the bench fuming while Harry is confused. “What’s a Mudblood?” He asks and Hermione explains. She looks pained as she speaks so Hagrid tries to comfort her. “they've yet to think of a spell that our Hermione can't do,” He gets her to smile which makes Cassia relax knowing that she’s okay.
Cassia was lucky enough to have been given detention with Professor Flitwick, so she’s able to get out early. Draco is waiting outside the classroom for her and she scoffs before walking the other way. He chases her down the hall, trying to get her attention. His hand grabs her shoulder and she turns around. With a small flick of her wand, his back hits the wall. “I’m surprised you would touch someone who’s not a pureblood” Cassia snaps and Draco sighs, hanging his head. “I deserved that” He mumbles before lifting his head. “I let my father get in my head and -” Cassia cuts him off shushing him. A faint voice is coming from the hall and she feels a strange pull towards it. He tries to talk again but she puts her hand over his mouth. “Don’t you hear that?” She asks and Draco gives her a confused look. Not elaborating more, Cassia breaks into a jog down the hall, following the voice. He lets her run, not wanting to push further since she’s already upset with him.
As she runs through the castle, she finds a corridor flooded with water. Looking up, her eyes meet her brothers. “You heard it too?” He asks and she nods. Ron and Hermione look just as confused as Draco had. The voice rings out again and the group looks at the wall across from them to find writing scrawled in blood.
The chamber of secrets has been opened. enemies of the heir… beware
Cassia looks to the right of the writing where Mrs. Norris, Filch’s cat, hangs by her tail, petrified. Students crowd into the hall, Draco at the front of the Slytherin group. He wants to rush forward to keep Cassia out of the trouble she’s always getting into, but he holds himself back knowing he wouldn’t be welcome. However, out of habit, she turns to make eye contact with him. She wants so badly to have her friend back but she can’t forgive him that easily. It’s going to take more than just an apology to her to fix things.
Filch comes in, pulling her attention away from Draco as he grabs Harry by the collar. Cassia gets between them and breaks Filch’s grasp on her brother. “Harry didn’t do anything” She defends him just as Dumbledore, Snape, McGonagall, and Lockhart come through the crowd. The Headmaster dismisses the rest of the students to question those who found the cat. Snape points out that neither of the Potters were at dinner, but their detention gives them an alibi. Dumbledore is quick to defend them which Cassia is thankful for because she has no real explanation for how they stumbled upon the scene.
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The next day in Transfiguration class, McGonagall explains the legend behind the Chamber of Secrets. Harry, Hermione, and Ron instantly suspect Draco to be the Heir of Slytherin. Cassia is not so sure. She understands their suspicion and plays along with their investigation, but she knows that Draco isn’t capable of such a thing. He may be arrogant and impetuous but he’s not evil. He’s just a twelve-year-old who’s influenced by his father.
They decide to make Polyjuice potion in order to question Draco. Since Cassia is the best at potions, they talk her into making it for them but she refuses to drink any. The potion takes a month to brew so Cassia hopes she can prove that it’s not Draco before then. However, he is not making it easy.
The Gryffindor-Slytherin game comes along and Draco seemingly has it out for Harry. He flies over Harry, nearly hitting him in the head with his broom. As Harry recovers, a rogue bludger takes out Oliver Wood’s broom and Harry narrowly dodges it. Cassia tries to keep her focus on getting the Quaffle but she finds herself distracted. “Angelina, I’m gonna go help Harry” She calls out before flying to her brother. He and Draco are going after the snitch with a bludger chasing them. Draco tries to knock him off his broom so Cassia swoops in between them. She leans her broom to the side and pushes Draco to the ground. They’re low enough that she knows he won’t be seriously injured but maybe it will get it into his head not to mess with her brother.
With Draco now out, Harry is able to catch the snitch and end the game. As he does though, the bludger hits his arm and he tumbles from his broom. Cassia rushes down, followed by most of the crowd. Her broom is tossed to the side so she can check on Harry’s arm. Once the professors finally get there to handle the situation, she can’t help but look over to Draco to make sure he’s alright. He simply nods to her and she returns her attention to her brother whose radius and ulna are now somehow gone.
A few weeks later, Lockhart decides to have the students duel in DADA. They all surround a long stage in the middle of the Great Hall with Lockhart and Snape at opposite ends. Snape nearly immediately launches his coworker across the stage, making Cassia, Harry, and Ron laugh. Being the coward that he is, Lockhart ends the duel between the professors in place for two students. He calls Cassia up while Snape gestures for Draco to get onto the stage. She doesn’t make eye contact with him, not wanting to feel any sort of sympathy. Cassia makes the first move, casting expelliarmus making Draco’s wand fly from his hand. Snape catches it with a stern look and hands it back to Draco. He tries to cast spell after spell, but she easily blocks them, having been taught by Remus after the events of last year. Finally, Draco calls out “Serpensortia” in hopes that Cassia will be too afraid of the snake to act. A cobra lands in front of Cassia who seems to be in a staring match with it. Snape quickly moves forward to get rid of the snake. His attempts are in vain and it moves closer to the students. A strange instinct kicks in and Cassia begins speaking in what almost sounds like hissing. As she speaks, the snake turns toward a Hufflepuff boy, Justin. She continually tells it to leave the boy alone but it doesn’t listen until Harry cuts in. He begins speaking the same strange language and the snake turns away. Just as it does, Snape kills it. Cassia is instantly accused of ordering the snake to attack Justin. She and Harry try to explain that she was telling it to stop but nobody believes them.
After the snake incident, Cassia sits at her desk writing a panicked letter to Remus. It details the recent events around the castle and how she worries she and Harry may actually be the heirs of Slytherin. His owl returns the very next day. Remus tells Cassia that they are definitely not in any way related to Salazar Slytherin. In fact, he’s quite baffled that they even considered it.